I was drawn to this book because of the excellent cover and famous author.
From the best-selling author of the Divergent series comes an under 200-page dark urban fantasy with witches, Baba Jaga, Knights of a Holy Order with magic and bone swords, and Polish-inspired demons. It took me a moment to dive into the first chapters, but it soon became nonstop. Also has a lot of action.

Dark fairy tale creatures who crossed the ocean more than four hundred years ago to live among us. They feed on human fear and anger. I love that the author focused on fear and anger as the top emotions that feed these monsters. If there are two emotions this city will teach us and we can't get away from, are these precisely, and in this order.

This was an amazing (fast) read. It is even more interesting if you live in Chicago or recognize the streets and locations (and cultural traits of the city) mentioned in this story. More if you walk by these locations every day in your daily routine, as I do. I will never look at the Uptown Theatre the same way.

It is filled with magic and amazing creative characters. The romance is very soft, but LGTBQ and I love both characters. Makes me want to read more about them because the book ends with a decision, and that decision can lead to new beginnings.

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher for this e-ARC.

Thanks so much to Net Galley for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of this book.
This was a really cool and interesting world to learn about. It was a little confusing when you first start but after the first section Roth does a great job a building the world and telling the story within it in such a short span of time.

I've never read any of Roth's work, but I was really impressed by this! Roth managed to pack an impressive amount of world building into a short novella without feeling over burdened. I appreciated the incorporation of Polish folklore that felt very authentic and not gimmicky at all. A great example of urban fantasy!

*Thank you to Tor and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review and to Macmillan Audio for a gifted ALC*

An urban fantasy based on eastern European folktales? Yum. I was really enjoying this book until the midpoint - a nuanced monster society? A freaking FIGHT CLUB? Yeah, super fun! Then things started to drag a bit when we really began our hunt for Baba Yaga (despite my excitement over Baba Yaga being in a book). More than that, the audiobook played chapter 10 twice for no discernible reason. It was super weird and really detracted from the tension. And maybe it's because I'm not used to reading novellas, but all of a sudden it was OVER. Like the ending hit and that was it!? AGH. I really loved half of it, kinda meh about the other half, but it averaged out.

Inspired by Polish folklore and set in Chicago, this urban fantasy novella brings three compelling characters together on a quest. They must find and gain an audience with Baba Jaga, the lore of whom Veronica Roth has inserted into the glory of Chicago's architecture. Instead of in a house with chicken legs, the powerful witch lives above a Harold's Chicken Shack. So many of the novella's settings are real Chicago institutions. The world-building and character interactions are A-plus, and there's a steamy romance hinted at, too. I'm hoping this is an amuse bouche for a series. If not, I enjoyed this glimpse.

[Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Set in modern Chicago, Roth weaves the lives of three different characters with magical elements inspired by Slavic folklore. The synopsis and gorgeous cover really grabbed me - it promised an interesting, enchanting, character-driven story.

While I usually enjoy the short form of a novella, I think this world and its characters would benefit from significant more time on the page. We spend so little time with each character that the big emotional moments fell completely flat for me. I didn’t know enough about them to care.

I honestly think the main character of Niko was pointless, which is a huge issue for a central character. I felt he brought nothing to the plot or changed the story in any significant way. The relationship between Dymitr and Ala was a much more interesting contrast to explore. Without Niko’s involvement, I would have felt a lot more attached to them.

There is a huge need for further editing, which perhaps it will receive before the final version is released. The obsession with describing scents and smells was too much. The word ‘smell’ was used almost 40 times, once FIVE times on the same page. I began to roll my eyes every time it was described.

I found myself re-reading lots of paragraphs just to make sure I understood what I had just read. The magic elements had some really interesting concepts; I wanted to learn so much more about the three types of “monsters”. But ultimately we discovered so little about them.

Overall, this book had huge potential but was a big letdown. If you want a book with magical realism set in a bustling city that also includes Baba Yaga, read One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake instead.

We all know Veronica Roth for one specific series, but I really hope When Among Crows is picked up by many, whether you love her other work or not. This is short, but the world building she accomplishes and the story she tells in such few pages is nothing sort of enchanting. Well done, Roth!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this novella. 3.5/5 stars.

I mean, it was fine. It's inspired heavily by Polish folklore, and I think this is the second time this year I've read about the Leszy in a book...which is kind of surprising. I wish this was almost more developed though. It's a novella, but you kind of just get thrown in to a world and a story and characters...and it definitely needs more to truly understand it. This is even more true when there's like a monster/demon hunter guild with magic and different creatures but it's also urban fantasy?

I enjoyed it for the quick read, but it was lacking substance and honestly would have been much better as a full novel.

I knew I would love this book but I had no idea how much. This urban fantasy had immaculate storytelling and world-building (as always with Veronica Roth). WOW this book was truly captivating. 4.25/5 stars! Thank you #netgalley.

Fans of the Shadowhunter series should dive right in! This is an immersive world where creatures walk amongst human but only the trained can see their magical influences.

In an alternate Chicago, three powerful species have settled - the zmora who feed on fear, the strzygi who feed on anger and the banshee who feed on sorrow. Dymitr arrives from Poland, the motherland to many of these monsters, in search of one who can lead him to the greatest witch in history: Baba Jaga. To succeed, he will need help from each magical family but magic can only be drawn on by sacrifice. He surprises them all with the prices he is willing to pay to continue his journey and it earns him the loyalty of a few friends along the way.

First is Ala, a zmora who is cursed to relive the deaths of hundreds of her kinfolk from sunrise to sunset. Then Niko, a. rare male among the strzygi with a burdensome task of his own. They must navigate the city before their elders or the monster hunters intercept the powerful little trio.

I could read a thousand more books in this world. Not only is the lore rich and layered, it is also uniquely told through the lens of Polish mythology. Family, identity and the global diaspora caused by WWII important here and tell a compelling story. Instead of info dumping, I felt that each aspect of the magic system was carefully revealed and resulted in a very satisfying end.

Anyone who has lived in Chicago during the past 20 years (or more) remembers the fading marquees, boarded up movie theaters, vacant early 20th century factories and bars, foreboding gigantic Gothic and Italian style churches, the ancient creaking subway and elevated train stations, the odd names and ornate and slightly sinister glass, tile and cement decorations of crumbling soot stained buildings, and especially, the hard to shake feeling of a liminal world, perhaps slightly supernatural, hanging out just behind your shadow. Roth has harvested the chiaroscuro of these memories as a backdrop, to create an undercity populated by creatures , spirits and nightmares from Slavic folktales, with wraiths, mysterious quests, curses coursing through bloodlines, avenging knights, and a legendary witch.

She does this quite cleverly and if you Google some of the landmarks featured: e.g., St. Stanislaus Church, the Uptown Theater, etc, you will get doubly hooked by the alchemy of a perfectly wrought setting that breathes discontent. The story centers around mysterious Dimytr, a Polish man with a quest, a long family line, and a chest full of secrets, who knows far more than he lets on and is missing a healthy dose of self-preservation He faces Ala, an alluring zamora who traffics in fear and has her own curse, which takes increasingly large bites of her sanity each evening. And then there is sexy Nico, an outcast owlish spirit who feeds on anger and ambiguity and may be the only link to getting Dimytr and Ala what they need…or what they think they need. The plot makes balletic swerves and dips through the vicious underbelly of the Chicago undercity, doubles back on itself, and then ends in a place, harrowing, unexpected and yet, perfectly balanced.

A successful novel or novella will leave the reader mostly satisfied and yet wanting to grasp more: more backstory, more intelligence about the characters, and especially more of the narrative road that continues after the conclusion. Roth has accomplished all of this in a rich compact package. Recommended

I’ve been a fan of Veronica Roth since Divergent (like many others!).

Novellas are difficult - I find they either have too much detail for a short story or not enough. Here, Roth struck a good balance. There was substantial material (enough for a full-length novel), but a good level of detail. I really enjoyed the fantasy elements of this and the mythology within. Overall, I did find myself wanting to know more about the characters, potential romances, and the overall world.

I hope Roth continues with this kind of work and/or expands this world!

Thank you to Tor for my arc!


I absolutely loved this, I wasn’t sure how to feel about it going in but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Roth’s writing is beautiful.

When Among Crows draws heavily from Polish folklore, spinning a tale of three people falling in together to find the legendary Baba Jaga and cure one of them from a deadly curse.

So first, here’s what I enjoyed. I loved the gritty atmosphere of and how Polish folklore and language was incorporated into the story. I have been enjoying seeing Eastern European culture entering the fantasy genre more frequently. And I typically enjoy the hero’s journey trope in books which to a certain extent When Among Crows was.

What diminished my enjoyment of the book was that it was a very short book and felt underdeveloped. Roth does a great job of giving us the characters’ backstories and motivations, but at times the pacing of events felt incredibly jarring. I also felt that the romance between two of the characters was thrown in just for the sake of having a romance rather than actually serving the story.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but it left me wanting more at the end.

This reminded me of Masters of Death by Olivie Blake.. and I gave that 1 star. This is a short and sweet contemporary fantasy. This book is less than 200 pages and I think the length was perfect and still told a great story. I actually felt really connected to Dymitr from the start of this book. He allies with those who has sworn for kill in order to get to his target, Baby Jaga. The personalities of these characters were so distinct and well written, and there was a good bit of humor that kept this darker tale a bit lighthearted. A great, quick read filled with adventure and trial.

Dymitr is a killer … of monsters. This is such a part of who he is, he had to split his soul to make a sword … out of his spine! Ala has inherited her mother’s curse. This curse will kill her too, if she isn’t able to break it. When Dymitr offers Ala a chance at a cure, she accepts without knowing what she is getting into. With such a time crunch on the possible cure, will they be able to complete both tasks in time?

When Among Crows is a stand-alone urban fantasy that sounds amazing but does not follow through. I even restarted the book thinking that my mind must have wandered too much and the second time through was just as painful. I’m sure there will be readers who love this story, but I found the tale flat and lifeless. I won’t give up on Roth as a writer, but this is not one of her best.

Y’all, if you love urban fantasy or you’re wondering where to start, you need to read When Among Crows! Veronica Roth’s latest is a novella that transports us to Chicago and into a fantastical world where the creatures of Slavic folklore live among us. Zmoras, strzygis, wraiths and many other fascinating mythical beings have fled persecution and adapted so well that their human neighbors will never know who they truly are. Despite their efforts to blend in, these creatures are still being ruthlessly hunted by a group of knights known as the Holy Order. And here is where Roth’s story begins.

Dymitr and Ala couldn’t be more different, but they’ve both known pain, and Dymitr has an enchanted flower that Ala desperately needs to cure her of the cruel curse she inherited from her mother. Dymitr wants an audience with Baba Jaga and he thinks Ala might be the only way to get one. Ala has no idea that Dymitr is her enemy as she leads him and us deeper into her mythical world. Niko doesn’t either, but that doesn’t stop him from joining them on their race to save Ala and to find Baba Jaga before the enchanted flower dies along with their hopes for a cure.

Y’all this novella gave me ALL the feels. This novella is so short and brilliant that I don’t want to give away any spoilers. There’s a little bit of romance, but honestly it’s the found family that had me in a chokehold. The characters were so complex, each carrying their own cursed burdens, I felt for all three of them. I knew next to nothing about Slavic folklore or Polish mythology, but this novella had me desperate for more. And I’ve never been to Chicago but I felt like I was there. I would 100% return to this world, but Roth did a fantastic job tying everything up in a satisfying conclusion. I only wish the romance had been fleshed out a bit more, but it’s a novella, so I get it. Thank you Veronica Roth for writing this! And thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC!!!

I feel like I was lost in a lot of the book. I have always enjoyed Veronica Roth's books but I just couldn't get into this one.

When Among Crows

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillian.audio for the ARC and ALC of this book.

This book was unfortunately a miss for me. I listened to the audio but was immediately lost so I had to follow along in the book. I felt as though there was so much not explained in the beginning. Like maybe I needed more backstory.
I’m sure this will be a hit for others, it just wasn’t for me.
The reason I grabbed this book was because of the author. I was a huge fan of Divergent. However, this is not similar.

Thank you to Tor Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of "When Among Crows" by Veronica Roth in exchange for an honest review.

Dymitr joins forces with Ala, a fear-eating zmora, to find the legendary witch, Baba Jaga. Ala wants to break a curse that has destroyed her family and now threatens her too. Dymitr's motives are more mysterious, but he's willing to face extraordinary challenges to track down Jaga. Along the way, another demon Niko joins them as they travel the dark, magical side of Chicago. They are hunted by an ancient order of Knights, dedicated to killing every supernatural being they find.

When Among Crows is an incredible story. Roth makes this modern urban fantasy feel timeless. A novella feel epic. She brings story elements we're all familiar with - a quest, a harried march through unfamiliar territory, legendary Baba Jaga - with less familiar elements from Polish folklore. It's exciting and emotional. It wrestles with questions about loyalty, guilt, grief, and forgiveness. It's by turns exciting and creepy.

It might have helped to include a glossary in the back to keep the lore straight, but other than that, it is absolutely amazing. Recommended for readers who enjoy the Witcher, Slavic folklore, urban fantasy, and anyone who just loves a really well written adventure.